Manuel Pasillas Connects Houston Manufacturing with Mexico

For Manuel Pasillas, international ambassador and board member of the Greater Houston Manufacturers Association (GHMA), manufacturing integration between Texas and Mexico takes shape in the daily work of supporting factories, maintaining equipment, and training people. In an interview during the signing of an agreement of manufacturing cooperation in Reynosa, he described those connections as a foundation for industrial growth on both sides of the border.

Pasillas said Mexico contributes substantially to Texas’s industrial strength and that the gathering represented an opportunity to recognize that relationship through greater involvement. His purpose in attending was to strengthen the links between industry in Mexico and the United States, with benefits extending to companies operating in both countries.

His perspective is grounded in his own business experience. Pasillas said he moved to Saltillo three years earlier and established a local presence for a business that sells and maintains equipment used in maquiladora operations. He explained that many of the companies it serves are American, making a presence in Mexico important to supporting their operations.

“We wanted to support and train people at the same time,” he said in the Spanish-language interview. That emphasis on equipment service and workforce preparation gave a concrete example of the cooperation he wants to expand through GHMA.

Pasillas described joint production between the two countries as a source of exceptional efficiency. In his view, working together allows manufacturers to combine capabilities in ways that strengthen their competitiveness. His own experience places that cooperation close to the factory floor, where technical support and trained personnel help companies put their manufacturing capacity to work.

Pasillas confirmed that he would represent GHMA, which serves manufacturers in Houston and the surrounding area. He described the commitment as growing the relationship and exploring how to help companies in Mexico and Texas with expansion, logistics, and smoother coordination between their operations.

The signings connected GHMA with INDEX Nacional, represented by president Humberto Martínez Cantú; INDEX Reynosa, led by Alfredo Guajardo; the San Antonio Manufacturers Association (SAMA); COSTEP, the Council for South Texas Economic Progress; the Tamaulipas Electrical–Electronics Cluster (CEET); and COBIFER. The collaboration brings Houston’s manufacturing connections into a wider network of industry representation, regional development organizations, and potential suppliers.

For Pasillas, the opportunity lies in extending relationships that already support production across the border. His interview linked the agreements to specific business needs—equipment support, training, logistics, and growth—and positioned GHMA’s participation as a way to help more manufacturers in Houston and Mexico benefit from working together.